


The Little Things

by atlanxic



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Gen, Medical Procedures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-01 12:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5206676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlanxic/pseuds/atlanxic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leorio isn't sure how he ended up becoming Cheadle's intern. He isn't sure it's what he wanted, either. But it turns out to be exactly what he needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> I'm breaking my brand, this fic is 100% pure and free of sin. It's honestly barely even shipping. Rated T for mentions of surgery and that's it.

Leorio wasn't really sure how he ended up as Cheadle's secretary. He wasn't happy about it, that was for sure. Everything after Gon had been healed was a blur of relief and politics and obligations that he didn't understand, and trying so hard to just return to his fucking studies, his exams were only a month away!! But somehow Cheadle had spoken to his dean and the exams had been waved, and since she was important in the medical community and he was a liscenced hunter, after all, it was decided that an internship with her would be very beneficial to him. Decided, he angrily added in his own head, by everyone but him, without his permission or input of any kind!

What made it even worse was that he really was learning a lot. He just wanted to get a normal university education, but instead he ended up helping Cheadle with weird disease outbreaks and mutant research and illegal mutilation cases all over the world. Absolutely none of it was stuff he would have learned in textbooks. Very little of it fit the definition of "secretary" or "intern" work, either, if anyone asked. (No one did.) A lot of it was "pass my those scissors" "run some tests on these samples" "hold this person down while I inject the anaesthesia" "make breakfast for us would you."

But, a lot of it was life-saving work. And he had to notice that Cheadle never charged for it unless the patient was well-off enough to spare the fees she asked.

"How do you do it?" he asked one night, bringing her a fourth mug of bitter black tea. There was barely anywhere to put it in the mess of papers on and around her desk, two laptops lighting her even greener than usual.

"Do what?" she murmured, obviously not paying attention. She sipped the tea absently as she skimmed a set of notes he'd taken earlier that month.

"You almost never charge anyone," he replied. His voice let through more emotion than he'd planned. He couldn't tell you what it was if you asked.

"Don't have to," she murmured. "This paper I'm working on will bring in a few million at the very least."

"W-What!!" he exclaimed. She was so startled at his outburst she nearly spilled her tea. She placed it carefully beside her keyboard before spinning her chair to look at him.

"Everything we do is groundbreaking," she said. "They call us in because the procedures and antidotes we create don't exist yet. I'm not a leader in this field for nothing." He hadn't thought about it before. He was so new to the field, he couldn't even tell the difference between advanced textbook prcedure and completely new techniques. He suddenly felt bashful for his reluctance.

"Once we figure out what works, we patent the antidotes and sell field papers," She continues. "I'd rather we didn't have to make patents, but someone else will if we don't, and they'll end up getting huge monopolies."

"So think about that the next time you grumble about wanting to go back to those boring old lecture halls," she reprimands him. He flushes with the realization that she'd noticed him doing it so much. "I bet I'm listed as a source in half your textbooks anyway."

She turns back to her paperwork without giving him an opportunity to reply. Later, he checks the bibliographies in his textbooks and finds her listed in all but the oldest ones. If a sense of awe sets in after that, it's only natural.

\---

He gets in the habit of making sure he's awake before her to make breakfast. He learned exactly how she likes her sausage cooked, and how even though she talks up the importance of eating a balanced breakfast, she always grimaces just slightly when she eats vegetables. It's almost the same expression she makes when she mentions Pariston, which is more often than he would have thought. He starts suspecting that she enjoys having someone to complain about.

He learns how often she needs tea when she's stressed, and what sorts of things she expects him to take notes on. He learns how to watch her surgeries so he can hand her what she needs before she asks for it. He learns how to run tests on a variety of bodily fluids, and perfects his techniques of comforting patients in shock or in recovery.

A few months later, she tells him he makes the best ginger tea she's ever had for sore throats, and it feels like more of an accomplishment than any high graded paper he's ever written.

They meet up with Killua and Alluka by chance. They're visiting a local festival, Cheadle is investigating a mysterious but seemingly non-contagious illness that someone contracted in the nearby suburbs. He tries three times to ask Alluka how she healed Gon, and gets a sharp glare from Killua every time. When the forth pleading question results in a shock that leaves his fingertips tingling for half an hour, he decides to drop it.

They have tea and tiny sandwiches at a local cafe. Killua tells him about their adventures, with Alluka interjecting excitedly at seemingly random intervals. She's pure and happy and excited in a way he doesn't get to see very often. Reminds him of Gon, almost.

When he asks how Gon is doing, Killua looks away, their face suddenly shadowed. "I haven't heard from him," they say. Leorio blinks a few times. He thought they were still close.

"I haven't either, sorry," he replies. To change the subject, he starts telling them about his expeditions with Cheadle. He doesn't realize until their plates are cleared away that this is probably confidential, and Alluka is getting restless.

"You really look up to her, huh?" Killua asks, eyes soft. Leorio blinks a couple times.

"Well who wouldn't?" he replies. "Everyone in the medical field knows her name."

"Huuuuhhhh," Killua drawls, and Leorio feels like he's missing something. "Well, we want to see the rest of the festival before it gets too dark, so we should get going."

"Wait, let me give you my number," Leorio replies. He pulls a small notebook and pen from his inside pocket and scrawls it out. "Keep in touch, alright? And let me know if you heard about anything weird going on."

"Will do," Killua replies, glancing at the note before putting it in their pocket. And there's no insincerity in their voice, but Leorio feels like it will be a while before he hears from them again.

"Stay safe," he says, tucking his notepad back into his pocket. Killua meets his eyes solidly before replying.

"I will," Killua says, and even though Leorio had said it casually, Killua's reply is a promise. It puts him at ease. "You stay safe too, yeah."

"I'll try," Leorio responds with a smile, and it's not as solid a vow as Killua's, but he does mean it.

\---

It's not long after that that she starts putting him in charge of some surgeries. Not the do-or-die ones, not the ones with a high risk of contamination. But the ones that are, by their standards at least, low risk, especially when she's tired.

It's not until his third surgery that they're able to stay in the same place long enough to nurse the patients instead of leaving as soon as the emergency threshhold is cleared. He's just finished changing the bandages on a young girl, about nine, when she wakes up.

She looks confused. "Where am I?" she asks. "You're not an angel." He laughs.

"You're still in the village," he replies. "We figured out how to stop the mutation. You might not ever be able to do much heavy lifting but I promise you'll live." She tears up more with every word he says. By the time the word live passes his lips, she's sobbing openly. He hugs her, careful not to touch the new bandages, and she clings to him.

"I thought I was going to die!" She exclaims. "My momma said the angels loved me too much and I'd never get to learn how to dry herbs like she does! I was so scared!!!" He tears up listening to her.

"You're alive." He says, not quite succeeding at keeping his voice steady. "You're alive!"

When Cheadle walks in, ten minutes later, she finds both of them sobbing in each others arms. She stands quietly in the doorway for a moment before clearing her throat.

"Leorio, we still have work to do," she reminds him, hitting the stack of papers in her hand. He looks up at her and nods, sniffling loudly.

"Look kid, you're gonna be so good at growing herbs, the world won't know what hit it," he tells the girl, wiping tears away with his tie.

"I will!" she exclaims. "I'm gonna be a doctor just like you when I grow up!" And that sets him off crying again. Cheadle has to pull him out of the room by the sleeve.

In the hallway, she puts an arm around his shoulders and waits patiently for him to get himself together.

"I did it," he sniffles into her collar. "I saved that little girl. I saved her and we're not gonna charge anything, right?"

"Of course not," Cheadle replies. "A town like this would be devastated by that, and they've been putting us up and feeding us this whole time."

He puts his hand on her shoulder and looks up, suddenly solemn. "Thank you," he says. She can't help but this he looks pretty cute like this, nose red and tears glistening on his cheeks. But that's terribly unprofessional of her. "This has always been my dream."

"Well we're not done yet," she replies. "Come help me write up this report."

He nods and swallows thickly. "I'll put tea on, you go ahead," he says. She smiles. He always knows exactly what she needs, these days.

Their tea that night is some of the best she's had. When she asks what's in it, Leorio mentions that the girl's mother gave him some of her herbs, a plant with a caffeine alternative that's less harsh. She finds her habitual headaches lighten up, after that.


End file.
